Illusions – A Commonality In Pole

Have you ever been to a magic show? While I’m not disputing the existence of magic I do believe that much of that show is the creator leading you believe something. Having you look at something specific in order for something else to appear. Or manipulating the environment to reveal a specific look or ideal.

And the exact same thing happens in pole.

Have you ever scrolled through your Facebook feed and looked at how utterly perfect everyone is? Gorgeous straddles and flawless jades are everywhere. And while I know a lot of us do have perfectly amazing splits and over splits, not all of us are there…but we can appear to be.

In the last few years, I have learned a lot about the power and ability of illusions, both on the pole and off the pole.

This, for instance is my straddle split (below). It’s not amazing. Actually, it kind of sucks and I don’t try to improve it. I have no desire to.

My current straddle split

It’s not great

And this is a picture of my straddle on the pole (below).

It looks slightly better than the floor 😛

As you can see, there’s quite a bit of difference. Between the angle of the camera (straight on and slightly above my legs) and the position of my body (sticking my hips backwards) I am able to create the illusion that I am far more flexible than I really am.

Another example is of this no handed jade/jade variation. My splits are terrible (I’m about four inches from the floor), I don’t even train them anymore due to an injury a few years ago. I have however, learned to twist just enough on the pole to create the idea that my split is awesome (except that I didn’t straighten my back leg: fail).

Jade variation

Here’s another example of me on the beach. Looks great right? But most of the sand is piled under my hips and therefore not being on level ground it appears I have a pretty flat split.

Illusions are an intriguing thing. Between cheating (twisting your body into a split for example), manipulating the angle of a shot, or altering the move ever so slightly (like below) you can give an entirely different appearance to your pole abilities.

Regular cheeba split

Illusion cheeba split: sinking hips back and using a straddle

Now, I’m not saying everyone does this. Obviously our pole world has some pretty badass dancers. However, when scrolling through a feed, bombarded by perfection it can be hard not to get down on your own skills (or lack thereof) every so often. We’re all human and all have a desire to be one of the elite.

But keep in mind that while a picture may be worth a thousand words it doesn’t show the journey. Or always the reality.